COUNCIL BLUFFS – A jury convicted a man this week accused of killing a 31-year-old woman in 1989. KCCI-TV reports that 62-year-old Robert Davis was the first arrest of the Iowa Cold Case Unit formed in 2024. He was found guilty of second degree murder. Lenz disappeared from her Woodbine home, and her body has never been recovered. Court records indicate that Davis was the last person to see her alive, and had formed a pattern of abuse during a two-year relationship.

CLARKE COUNTY – A Grand River man has been sentenced after pleading guilty to his involvement in a crash with a buggy that killed a teenager in Clarke County. WHO-13 reports 41-year-old Jacob Wright fled the scene of the incident that resulted in the death of 16-year-old Elm Borntrager in November. He was arrested nearly one month later. He pled guilty to Leaving the Scene of an Accident Resulting in Death and Failure to Assist, and faces up to 12 years in prison. An involuntary manslaughter charge was dropped as part of the plea agreement.

COUNCIL BLUFFS – A teaching assistant let go from an Iowa School District will not receive unemployment benefits. Iowa Capital Dispatch reports paraeducator Patricia Pike was fired from the Lewis Central Community School District after she was accused of violating school policy on phone use. In October 2025, Pike was using her cell phone in a middle school classroom after students had been dismissed, and allegedly pulled up photos of men on OnlyFans and showed those to a coworker. Administrative Law Judge Elizabeth Johnson ruled that the job-related misconduct disqualified Pike from unemployment benefits.